Bahrain disbands opposition group Islamic Action Association

The Islamic Action Association joined anti-government protests in Bahrain last year.

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A Bahraini court has ordered the disbanding of the Shia opposition group the Islamic Action Association, accusing the party of financial irregularities.
While Bahraini prosecutors claimed on Monday that the ruling was made over the group's failure to provide the justice ministry with reports on its annual budget and promoting violence, it is widely believed that the Islamic Action Association was disbanded over its support for anti-government demonstrations in the country.
Bahraini opposition parties, including al-Wefaq, have slammed the court's ruling, saying it violates the constitution and law, AFP reported.
Bahrain's justice ministry filed a lawsuit to dissolve the group in June and the group's leader Mohammed Ali Mahfuz and several of its leading members were sentenced to long prison terms along other opposition figures for "plotting to overthrow the regime".
Meanwhile, a Bahraini court has sentenced prominent human rights activist Nabeel Rajab to three months in prison over his online comments deemed insulting to the ruling family.
Bahraini security forces attacked Rajab's home in the Bani Jamra district, west of the capital Manama, and arrested him shortly after the court's ruling. This is the third time Rajab is being arrested in the past two months.
Bahrainis have been staging demonstrations since mid-February 2011, demanding political reform and a constitutional monarchy, a demand that later changed to an outright call for the ouster of the ruling Al Khalifa family following its brutal crackdown on popular protests.
Scores of people have been killed and many others have been injured in the Saudi-backed crackdown on peaceful protesters in Bahrain.
Bahrainis hold King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa responsible for the death and arrest of protesters.
HM/JR/AZ